Need help to complete Habenero Chipotle Sauce Recipe

I have been working on a Habanero / Chipotle Recipe for chunked chicken for tacos and burritos, and I am missing body in the sauce. It has great burn over the whole tongue and a nice sweet taste. Here is the recipe that I am working with, please help me finish this recipe, ALL suggestions will be helpful... :)

Yeah, I'm not getting the water, chicken stock and roux (butter/flour). I'd leave those out entirely probably. Skip the liquid from the peaches, and pineapple as well. And omit the liquid smoke but grill the onion, tomatillos, habaneros and get the smoke flavor that way as well as adding the complexity of the grilled vegies.

I will try leaving out the water, butter, flour, and the liquid smoke. When I did the recipe without the juice from the peaches and pineapple, I lost the sweetness. Any ideas on adding body to the sauce?

not sure what your cooking process is, but here's my 2 cents worth...a few things in your recipe i don't get, like the liquid smoke, the apple cider vinegar or the water...black pepper? really? even with the habaneros and the chipotles?...actually i don't get the carrots either, but maybe just because i don't like carrots in burritos....they are however good for thickening and color, so you may want to keep them in(for now). i agree with phatch that you probably don't need the roux as well...here goes:

1) drain the liquid from the pineapple and peaches(reserve liquid) process the tomatillos, onions( i would add lime, garlic and green chilies to the onions while sauteeing)(you are sauteeing them right?)..PUREE everything but the liquids...reduce in sauce pan to consistancy of a thickish tomato sauce...then you can add back some of the fruit juice and some of your chicken stock...simmer again for another 10 minutes or so to reduce again....

2) add small chunks of yukon gold or red potatoes(unpeeled)...or you could use instant potato flakes(lightly)

3) you could add shredded chicken as well

basically, reduce, reduce, reduce.....

i think if you reduce your sauce and not add the liquids until the puree is reduced, lose the liquid smoke, water, vinegar and roux you'll be fine..or at least better off...sure hope this helps

joey

food is like love...it should be entered into with abandon or not at all Harriet Van Horne

Thanks for the reply, I will try this today. The carrots are for the color, I tried this recipe last night again without the butter, flour, liquid smoke, and water. I left in the chicken broth, which is home made (with all of the skin, carrots, celery, onion, and extra chicken peices liquified and added back to the broth) WOW what a great tasting chicken stock. I also added garlic and 3 tablespoons of orange juice, I grilled the habeneros and tomatillos. Everthing was blended in the food processor to a smooth consistancy, then simmered on the stove for 30 minutes. I had left out the juice from the peaches, but had to add it after because the sweet flavor was very minimal. This came out beautifull... I will be trying it today after it sat in the refrigerator overnight letting all of the flavors come together with the chicken. I will post again later with the final results and the final recipe for anyone who wants it. Thanks for input that I received

Well, you already got the butter and flour out -- whether or not you knew it, you were working on a veloute based sauce -- and went to puree/concentration which was a very good thing.

I suggest looking at some recipes for red and (especially) green enchilada sauces. It appears that you're going after a variation of the same thing. Reading through five or six recipes should tell you everything about technique you need to know. You're actually doing something rather close to a smooth version of a Mexican sauce "al diablo," and that's something else you can look at if you enjoy research.

The carrots do quite a bit more than add color. They must be bringing a lot of taste and texture as well. I've got to wonder about the color -- and the way you're mixing tomatillos with yellow, orange, red and brown ingredients. What does your sauce look like? Can you post a picture?

Using red onions -- as opposed to less expensive white or brown onions -- isn't doing anything for your recipe. Their little bit of difference just gets lost in all those powerful flavors. Use whatever's convenient.

There are other ways of getting sweetness besides the syrup from canned fruit. I'm not saying "better," just "other." Something to think about.

Instead of pureeing all the fruit, reserve some portion -- say 1/4 or 1/3 -- dice finely (or mince), and add it to the rest of the sauce after it's cooked. It will bring texture and freshness.

Adding a little fresh cilantro and mint (and perhaps even some parsley) would be very good. Using the same herbs, freshly minced, as a garnish would also be good.

as a post-it note,while i agree that there may not be any benefit to using red onions in the sauce, i would tend to use either vidalia or maui sweet onions... marinated red onions to top the burritos would be lovely as well...way simple..sliced thin red onions soaked in hot water( i add sugar), for about 10-15 minutes and drained...mexicans put them on EVERYTHING!!!...

joey

food is like love...it should be entered into with abandon or not at all Harriet Van Horne